Williams will have a slight advantage over her Russian challenger, although Sharapova might come out the winner, too, Tarpishchev said. He remarked that Sharapova, this year's Wimbledon champion, was in perfect shape in her first two WTA Tour matches, but looked somewhat tired in the subsequent matches. As the fatigue built up, her performance became increasingly unstable.
As for Williams, she has not won many titles this year, and would not have made it into the Tour Championship finals if Anastasia Myskina had not lost to the American three sets of her opening match, argues Tarpishchev.
"Williams is fresh from the nervous system's point of view and Sharapova, given her young age and the number of matches behind her, will find it hard to play in a stable way," predicted Russia's top tennis official.
In the semi-finals, Williams defeated France's Amelie Mauresmo while Sharapova beat a fellow Russian, Myskina.
The winner of the final match will receive 485 points on WTA rankings and 1 million dollars in prize money. The loser will go home with 340 points and a monetary reward of $500,000.
